I think I've figured out how to pick up my pace.

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For those of you who do not know I just started working in a grocery store. I was told so far that everything else I do is fine. I just need to pick up the pace a little bit. So with that in mind I have given it some thought.

1.)If & r when a box is light enough, just pick up the box & dump the fruit (loose or bagged) instead of placing it in the display section 2 or 4 at a time. Just dump the sh*t. That is of course after you rotate the older stuff away first.
2.) see if you can grab more than 2 or 4 at a time. Especially w/ bagged salads.

3.) Bananas: grab more than 1 or 2 at a time.

Just be careful not to bruise the fruit because people will skip over the bruised fruit and it will sit there and go bad and you might get in trouble if you bruise too much fruit and it affects sales. So be sure to dump gently.

I've found one thing that slows me down on large-body physical tasks is co-ordinating my arms to work together. For example, I buy four to six 12-packs of cola for my partner and I've noticed that I put them in the car one at a time instead of two at a time like I ought to. I have a hard time coordinating my hands to both do tasks together. Same with the grocery sacks. I catch myself putting them in the car one at a time instea dof two at a time. So just putting groceries from the cart into the car takes me twice as long as it ought to.

Pay attention to see if you might be doing the same thing. I think that might be what you're referring to when you say to grab more than 1 or 2 bananas at a time. Check to see if both your arms are joining in on the task or only your dominant arm. I don't know if this is an issue for you but I know it's an issue for me so I thought I'd mention it.

Congratulations on doing well in your new job!

I can hold 5 apples in one hand and one in the other. 6 at once. Takes practice.

Careful about dumping stuff, it might bruise or get damaged. Being mindful of that, dump to your heart's content. Just carefully. Probably shouldn't dump anything like apples or stonefruit or anything soft. Potatoes and onions and stuff would be fine to dump. Just make the end result look somewhat pretty. Customers like pretty displays.

It's good to hear that you're doing pretty good at produce.

If you worked at my store, I could show you a lot of helpful tricks. That would be fun.

I think I'm with the original poster. Just dump the sh*t!

And I don't think you need to be all that careful. As long as the fruit is not obviously and clearly bruised, dump away. These kind of businesses are not particularly quality oriented. They're really not. What you generally want to do is work at a good, steady, medium pace.

I agree with Druidsbird and Sparrowrose, dump the fruit CAREFULLY. Fruit can bruise easily and you may not even notice. When packing out stone fruit and apples, you might want to just tip the box and use your hand to "shovel" the fruit out in a more controlled fashion. You should also pay attention to which direction you pack out faster. Is it easier for you to work with the box on your left side or on your right side? Remember 1) relax 2) try to get a rhythm going 3) speed will come with time and practice

Good luck and keep us posted.

And that's fine, too. That is another good way.

My main point, these kind of jobs, you want to work at a good steady, medium pace (most of the time, there are exceptions which you'll pick up). You do want to be cognizant of not showing up other workers.

And there's some chance you may run into a manager who's a bit of a bully, who doesn't want to be there and takes it out on his or her employees. Most likely, it will be a more middle of the road situation, and the managers will be generally disengaged, generally just not that invested emotionally or any other way in the job. And this one, unlike the bully, you can go with the flow and just accept the situation. On the other hand, some chance, maybe one out of five, that you'll get a manager who's actually a pretty good coach.

Actually, with the exception of Walmart, these kinds of businesses are *extremely* quality oriented.

How is your job going lately anyhow, Johnconnor? Haven't heard from you in a few days.

I don't think I'd exclude Walmart. My Walmart has the highest quality produce in town. And Walmart is getting extremely focused on their produce section and setting up programs to buy locally-grown produce and carry more organically-grown produce than other supermarkets. When I want the highest-quality produce, I go to Walmart and Costco. When I want nasty, half-rotten, brusied to hella n dback again produce, I go to the locally-owned, family-owned, employee-owned grocery.

Well, ok that's fair. I shouldn't have singled out any one company. If you like Walmart and Costco, more power to you. I shop at Walmart too and only live a state away from where you live, but I don't ever buy produce there. Maybe it's just different in your area.

I kind of wish Costco wasn't such high quality at a good price because I hate giving them my money (because I disagree with their politics) but if I boycott them because I disagree with how they spend their money, I only end up hurting myself by having to pay more money for produce.

As for Walmart, I've been seeing a lot of articles from various places around the U.S. that seem to indicate that the high quality of their produce section is a corporate policy, not just a local phenomenon. One east coast article was about a guy who bought produce at Walmart and produce at Whole Foods and had gourmet chefs rating them without knowing where they came from. Walmart won.

I'm with you on that, I shop there too and it's all I can afford.

The reality of the grocery business is that it doesn't matter what the corporate stance is on quality, grocery chains are still supplied by regional distribution centers shipping long distances by truck. Much of what is shipped is damaged before it reaches it's destination. Perishable goods are shipped all together in refrigerated trucks whether it should all be refrigerated or not. I would estimate at least 60% of damage/spoilage occurs during shipment as a direct result of shipment.

I haven't read the article you mention.

*edited*

[quote="Sparrowrose]I kind of wish Costco wasn't such high quality at a good price because I hate giving them my money (because I disagree with their politics) but if I boycott them because I disagree with how they spend their money, I only end up hurting myself by having to pay more money for produce.

As for Walmart, I've been seeing a lot of articles from various places around the U.S. that seem to indicate that the high quality of their produce section is a corporate policy, not just a local phenomenon. One east coast article was about a guy who bought produce at Walmart and produce at Whole Foods and had gourmet chefs rating them without knowing where they came from. Walmart won.[/quote]

Walmart's Politics are ok but, Costco isn't? Care to elaborate? Personally I feel it's the other way around but, I'm interested in why you think that.

Walmart's Politics are ok but, Costco isn't? Care to elaborate? Personally I feel it's the other way around but, I'm interested in why you think that.[/quote]

Costco donates to political candidates and policies I oppose.

I guess I didn't think about the political thing enough. I just think Costco takes better care of it's employees then Walmart.

I'm sure Costco employees think so as well, and that's why they've chosen to work at Costco instead of Walmart.

The difference being whether a business accepts and tries to sell the damaged produce or not. I went shopping earlier today and bought a lot of produce at Walmart. It's very beautiful stuff. I didn't see a single piece of damaged produce in the store. Then I went to Winco to pick up some of the processed foods my partner enjoys and I stopped by the produce section to see wilted greens, strawberries covered in visible mold (and no strawberries worth buying, even at $1.29/pound (they had been $1/pound at Walmart)), dry hard limes, only one choice of melon type (Walmart had four) and prices higher than Walmart. I was really glad I'd already bought my produce earlier.

Winco wouldn't have lost my ongoing business if they hadn't kept putting inedible produce out for purchase. But then again, judging by the quality of produce I've seen there, if Winco didn't put the damaged stuff out the produce section would look like a Soviet-era grocery store. That is to say, startlingly bare.



I dug it out. It's in the Atlantic Monthly:

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc ... down/7904/